Improvement in machines for preparing tobacco for pressing



Nrrnn j STATES PATENT t Fries'.

E. S. COLLINS AND T. N. READ, OF ASPEN NVALL, VIRGINIA.

IMPROVEMENT IN MACHINES FOR PREPARING TOBACCO FOR PRESSING.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No`l 25,557, dated September 27, 1859.

To all whom t may concern.-

Be it known that we, EDWIN S. CoLLINs and TrroMAs N. READ, of Aspen Wall, in the county of Charlotte and State of Virginia, have invented a new machine for straightening, stretching, pressing, and oiling bundles of tobacco preparatory to prizing or packing the same into hogsheads for shipment; and we do hereby declare that the following is a full and exact description thereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, making a part of this specification Figure l being a top view of said machine after the portion E thereof has been detached therefrom; Fig. 2, a side View of the same; Fig. 3, a section in the line .rx of Fig. 1;. Fig. 4, a plan of a detached portion of the machine, and Fig. 5 a section in ther line y y of Fig. 4.

Similar letters indicate like parts in each of the drawings. y

The frame which supports the operating parts of the aforesaid machine may be constructed of any suitable materials and in any suitable manner. The supportingframe represented in the accompanying drawings is composed of thelongitudinal beams A A, the transverse beams B B, and a suitable number of supporting legs and braces. The platform H at the front end of said frame receives the bundles of tobacco preparatory to their being passed into` the operating parts of the ma chine, and the tail-board C receives the said bundles of tobacco as th ey are discharged from vthe machine.

The operating parts of the aforesaid machine consist in a peculiar arrangement of three or more pairs ofpressure-rollers a a', b b, and c c', whose peripheries are covered with some soft substance, while the said pairs of rollers gradualiy increase in size from the first pair to thela'st. The metallic frame which receives the above-mentioned pairs of pressure-` rollers is composed of nearly corresponding upper and lower portions, D D', whose shape is clearly represented in the drawings. The respective portions of said metallic frame have obliquely-projecting ears 7a s, that rest the one upon the other upon the side beams, A A, ofthe wooden supporting-frame, and that are united to each other and to the said beams by means of screw-bolts or other suitable fastenings. The

sh aft -j ou rnals ofthe rollers a and care received into apertures in the respective sides of the vmetallic frame D D', or intoj ournal-boXes comp bined with said frame, while the shaft-j ournals of the rollers a and c are received into slots formed in the upper and lower portions of said frame. The projecting outer ends of the shaitjournals of the rollers a c are connected to the springs F F by means of the bridles jj,

as shown in Figs.l and 3. XVe do not, how- `metallic frame D. The shaft-journals of the roller b workin the jaws m m', which rise from the bar D of the upper portion of the rollersupporting metallic frame, and these journals are connected to the downwardlydrawing spring 'i by means of the bridle h. Motion is communicated to the rollers a and c in the following manner, viz: A toothed wheel, G, which works upon a pivot, t, that rises from a cross-bar of the lower portion of the metallic frame D, gears into the teeth of pinions that are secured to the lower ends of the shafts of said rollers c and c', and this toothed wheel G is connected with the teeth of the pinion f on the driving-shaft g, either by means of an annular series of perforations in said wheel, as shown in the drawings, or'by means of teeth descending from the under face of said wheel. Immediately in front of the junction of the peripheries of the rollers a and a a roller, d, which gradually enlarges from its center to its extremities, is placed upon the central portion of the downwardly acting spring io, for the purpose of guiding the bundles of tobacco in between the said rollers a a.

The oiling of the tobacco during its passage through the machine is effected in the following manner, viz: A rectangular frame, E, is

placed upon the upper portion of metallic' frame D, and is secured thereto by means of pins descending from said frame into the apertures e c in the said metallic frame. This rectangular frame E has holders for the reception of three bottles of oil, ot n a, which are so located that the bottle a will drop its oil between the pad p and the periphery of the roller b, as shown in Fig. o. The bottle awill drop its oil between the pad p and the periphery ofthe roller a, and the bottle n will drop its oil between the pad p and the periphery of the roller e. The lillings of the :mouthsof the said bottles n n n can7 as a matter of course7 be so prepared as to perfectly regulate the discharge of the oil from said bottles.

The operation of the above-described 1nachine will be readily understood. The rollers a a' receive the bundles of tobacco from the feeding-roller (l, and consequently they exert a straightening` and a compressing influence upon the right and left hand sides of the said bundles. The rollers b t', being a little larger in diameter than the rollers a e,exert astretch* ing and a compressing; iniiuence upon the upper and lower sides of the said bundles of tobacco as they draw them from between the said rst pair of rollers; and the rollers c c; be ing a little larger in diameter than the rollers Z) b', will exert a second stretching and compressing operation upon the right and left hand sides of said bundles of tobacco, as they draw them from between the said second pair of rollers and discharge the saine out onto the tail-board G. The bundles of tobacco which have been thus operated upon by us have been brought to a smoother, more compact, and in every way a more perfect shape than has ever been attained by any other process.

The elastic covering of the pressure-rollers aa, b b', and c c may be formed of ielting or any other material possessing the requisite qualities.

A more extensive experience in the construction and use of the aforesaid machine may perhaps lead us to modify in somepartieulars the form and proportions of seine of its parts, but without changing the principle of its ae;

y tion.

Having thus fully described our new and improved machine for straightening, stretching, pressing, and oiling bundles of tobacco preparatory to przing the same, what we claim as our invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, isi l. The arrangement of two, three, or more pairs of progressive-pressure rollers with each other, substantially in the manner and for the purpose herein set forth.

2. Combining a series or" oil-vessels and oiling-pads with the aforesaid pairs of pressurerollers, substantiallyin the manner herein set forth.

The above specification of our improved inachine for cleaning, straightening, oiling, and pressing bundles or leaves of tobacco preparatory to prizing the same signed and witnessed this 17th day of May; 1859.

EDWIN S. CLLINS.

THOMAS N. READ.

Witnesses: i

Z. C. RonBiNs, EDM. F. BROWN. 

